Penn State fires James Franklin: What's next for the Nittany Lions? | Emergency Podcast

Summary

Cover 3 College Football Podcast: "Penn State fires James Franklin: What's next for the Nittany Lions?"

Date: October 12, 2025
Hosts: Chip Patterson and Tom Fornelli

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Main Theme and Purpose

In this emergency episode, the Cover 3 crew reacts to the shocking news that Penn State has fired head coach James Franklin following a third consecutive loss. The hosts break down why the move happened, assess Franklin’s legacy, discuss the impact on Penn State football, and dive into early speculation about who could be the next head coach in Happy Valley.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Immediate Reactions: Penn State Parts Ways with James Franklin

• Penn State’s firing of James Franklin was swift and unexpected, coming after a third straight conference loss and following a statement from Athletic Director Pat Kraft citing high standards and a desire for new leadership.

  • Chip: “We’re not even talking about a buyout...I think Penn State just passed the hat and did it.” (02:47)
  • Tom: “I really did not think that was going to happen. Not like—not this quick.” (02:58)

• Surprised at lack of a "mutual parting"—the university made a decisive move instead of waiting for the season to conclude.

2. Why Now? Examining the Decision’s Timing

• Ongoing concerns about potential team apathy and the dangers of letting “rot” spread in the program if action wasn’t taken.
  • Chip: “If we just keep going like this, the rot’s going to get worse...Best chance we have...is to take this, you know, youth movement or whatever, interim staff, and hope to be able to go out there and be competitive…” (03:34)
• Tom notes that a toxic environment was forming:
  • “As you go forward, whether the team quit or not, you were going to have...just fans at the stadium kind of, you know, yelling things the entire time.” (04:37)
• The abruptness: Penn State was a top-2 preseason team, was close in big games (nearly beat Oregon), but three losses ended the Franklin era.

3. James Franklin’s Legacy at Penn State

• "Dragged the program out of the stone age," modernizing operations and raising expectations, but failing to reach the national championship tier.
  • Tom: “Franklin modernized the operation and he won a whole hell of a lot of games, but he never really broke through...Now they want to find somebody who can beat the best of the best. I don’t know that coach is available..." (05:47)
• Under Franklin: Top 10 finishes in multiple years, 104 wins to 45 losses, a Big Ten title, seven New Year’s Six bowls, and a College Football Playoff berth.
  • Chip: “Since 2019...you have top 10 finishes in 16, 17, 19, 22 and 24. 104 wins and just 45 losses.” (06:49)

4. How Close Was Franklin to Staying?

• The margins were razor-thin—if Penn State had won a crucial overtime game against Oregon, the entire trajectory could have changed.
  • Chip: “If Penn State wins that thing in overtime...that is the narrowest of margins between charging ahead, looking like a Big Ten and national title favorite and firing your extremely successful 100 win coach just a couple weeks later. I mean, wild.” (08:21 & 08:34)
• Noted that a single turnover or win might have prevented this outcome.

5. Expectations for the Rest of the Season

• Loss of the starting quarterback and head coach within 12 hours—expectations drop dramatically.
  • “Their next three games are at Iowa, at Ohio State, and then Indiana. They’re probably going to get their ass kicked in their next three games.” (10:44)
• The new interim coach is Terry Smith (former WR, now cornerbacks coach and associate head coach).
  • Chip: Smith is “a former Penn State player…a big part of recruiting efforts… probably a good pick” (12:02)

6. What’s Next? Candidate Speculation for Penn State

• Tom dismisses fan favorite Kurt Signetti (Indiana HC) as unrealistic; Indiana is currently a very strong job with significant investment.

  • “Kurt Signetti is not leaving Indiana for Penn State in 2025…In this modern era, things have changed really quickly. Indiana right now is looking like a very similar job to Penn State.” (15:08)

• Main realistic targets discussed:

  • Matt Rule (Nebraska): Penn State alum, respected coach—could be lured home.
  • Matt Campbell (Iowa State): Midwest ties, proven program builder.
  • Other names floated: Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri), Brian Kelly (LSU), Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss), Fran Brown (Syracuse), Dan Mullen, Al Golden (Bengals DC), Clark Lea (Vanderbilt).

• On Matt Campbell:

  • “If Penn State ends up with him, I would be thrilled. If I'm a Penn State fan, I'd probably be more thrilled with that than Matt Rule.” (17:47)

7. Would Franklin Land Elsewhere?

• Consensus: Franklin immediately becomes one of the most sought-after coaches on the open market.
  • Tom: “James Franklin will only be on the market as long as he decides he wants to be on the market.” (07:06)
  • Chip: “He is going to be the most sought after candidate for power conference jobs. He could work literally anywhere from coast to coast.” (30:20)

8. Ripple Effects Across College Football

• The firing could affect coaching carousels at Florida, Auburn, LSU, and elsewhere—Franklin is available with no buyout obligations for hiring schools.
  • Tom: “If I’m Hugh Freeze or Billy Napier, I had a chill on my spine about now. James Franklin's out there.” (26:42)

9. Cultural Questions and Coordinator Considerations

• Debate over whether Penn State should pursue a proven head coach or a rising coordinator.
  • “I don’t feel like you make this move and then you go for an inexperienced guy. Unless you absolutely know, and that you never know.” (33:12)
• Glenn Schumann (Georgia DC) named as an intriguing out-of-the-box option.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Tom: “Franklin modernized the operation and he won a whole hell of a lot of games, but he never really broke through to where they wanted to get... And now they want to find somebody who can beat the best of the best. And I don’t know that that coach is available.” (05:47)
• Chip: “That is the narrowest of margins between charging ahead, looking like a Big Ten and national title favorite and firing your like, extremely successful 100 win coach just a couple weeks later. I mean, wild.” (08:34)
• Tom: “If I am Penn State, the more realistic options...are Matt Rule and Matt Campbell. It's going to be one of the Matts. That is my prediction.” (16:23)
• Chip (on the coaching job's appeal): “It is the best job that is available right now.” (19:22)
• Chip: “Man had an Ohio State problem, but that Ohio State problem has gotten him tens of millions of dollars. Perhaps a little bit of a fresh start.” (30:20)
• Tom’s Power Rankings: “If power ranking, who I think would be the better hire, I would have Matt Campbell above Matt Rule.” (32:24)

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• 02:46 – School's official release, gratitude to Franklin, decision rationale
• 04:31 – The risk of letting things get toxic or the team checking out
• 05:47 – Franklin's modernization and legacy at Penn State
• 06:49 – Recap of Franklin's successful tenure (wins, bowl games, playoff)
• 08:34 – Discussion of slim margin between keeping/firing Franklin
• 10:36 – Expectation reset for Penn State’s current season
• 12:02 – Terry Smith named interim head coach
• 15:08 – Why Kurt Signetti probably won’t be a candidate
• 16:23 – Matt Rule and Matt Campbell as predicted top targets
• 19:22 – The case for Penn State being the “best job available”
• 26:40 – Franklin's firing affects potential coaching changes at other major programs
• 30:20 – Franklin as most attractive free agent coach
• 32:24 – Tom’s coaching candidate power rankings
• 33:12 – Debate over hiring a coordinator vs. proven head coach

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Additional Insights

• Coaching Search Strategy: Hosts stress the need for Penn State to "make these people say no," encouraging a bold and aggressive search targeting elite candidates.
• Program Status: Despite toxicity and recent losses, Penn State remains an elite, highly resourced program, making it a prime destination.
• Franklin’s Future: His stock remains high despite his firing; he’ll have his pick of top college or possibly even TV jobs.

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Episode Tone and Style

• Conversational, occasionally irreverent, but deeply knowledgeable
• Willing to poke fun at the absurdity and unpredictability of college football coaching moves
• Candid about the industry’s realities and the unstable nature of coaching tenures

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This summary covers the core content, real-time analysis, and in-depth speculation that make this episode essential listening for anyone invested in Penn State football or the national coaching carousel.

Transcript

[Chip Patterson]

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[Podcast Announcer]

Welcome back to the COVID 3 podcast with your hosts, Chip Patterson, Tom Fernelli, Danny Cannell and Bud Elliott. It's your call for the best college football cover signing day to the national championship and everything in between. CBS Sports presents the COVID 3 podcast.

[Chip Patterson]

And welcome back to the COVID 3 podcast here on CBS Sports. That's Tom Pinelli. I'm Chip Patterson coming to you [e-mail] Cupert3 and everywhere. You get your podcast on demand. Thanks for hanging out. Smash that. Subscribe smash that like and come and join us in the chat. Because you see those sirens in your feed. You know exactly what that means. Oregon State has moved on Trent Bray. Yes, yes, yes.

[Tom Fernelli]

But also, I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh at Trent Bray like that. I just did not expect it. Sorry.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah, so listen, because that did happen, what, an hour ago? Maybe an hour ago, A couple hours ago. You know, there's always the debate with any of these. Is it going to be the siren or not? But yeah, when Penn State announces on Sunday as the Nittany Lions lost their third straight game on Saturday, a changing in leadership. Yeah, that's right. Penn State has fired James Franklin. An official release from the school. Penn State owes an enormous amount of gratitude to Coach Franklin who rebuilt our football program into a national power. He won a Big Ten championship, led us to seven new year, six bowl games and a college football playoff appearance last year. However, we hold our athletics programs to the highest of standards and we believe it is the right moment for new leadership at the helm of our football program to advance us towards Big Ten and national championships. That coming from, let's see, A.D. right. Pat Kraft. Patrick Kraft.

[Tom Fernelli]

Yeah.

[Chip Patterson]

So, Tom, that, I mean, we're. We're not even talking about buyout. We're not even talking about mutual parting of ways. I, I think Penn State just passed the hat and did it.

[Tom Fernelli]

Yeah, I, I think that's the. I think that's exactly what happened. And I mean, I'm surprised. Like, we. We discussed it last night, but I thought that we were going to see a situation where this was going to be like a mutual kind of. Everybody's just going to take this, Take this as an opportunity to kind of break ties and think what's best for both parties going forward. But I don't know, man. I guess James Franklin might have thought, why would I give up that buyout if I don't have to? Which is probably financially wise. But this is just. It came as a shock. I really did not think that was going to happen. Not like. Not this quick.

[Chip Patterson]

Oh, yeah. Not. Not like this. So it brings me back to something that we talked about with these September firings at the power conference level is that you are worried that continuing with no accountability would lead to the whole team checking out. And I. I do think these are isolated incidents. But look at ucla, you know, like, if you, as a. As a leadership within the university, within the athletic department are saying, man, if we just keep going like this, it. The rot's going to get worse. The losing is going to get more embarrassing. Best chance we have as our star quarterback is out for the season with an injury is to take this, you know, youth movement or whatever, interim staff, and hope to be able to go out there and be competitive and still have happy days in Happy Valley where you compete for a victory. I mean, is that. Is that part of this, you think?

[Tom Fernelli]

Yeah, I think part of it is just. I mean, the environment was going to get so freaking toxic.

[Chip Patterson]

Okay.

[Tom Fernelli]

As you go forward, whether the team quit or not, like, you were going to have an empty stadium or at least just fans at the stadium kind of, you know, yelling things the entire time. No, everybody was going to be miserable. Like, this is a team. And think of, like, how quickly this all just completely collapsed. This was a team that, in the preseason was, you know, number two in the AP poll. People were talking about him as a national title contender. A few weeks ago, they were up in overtime against Oregon, and now three weeks later, their coach is fired, like the longest tenured coach in the Big Ten. And he's gone. And it's just. It's incredible. Like, it's. It's. It goes to show how quickly things can change in this sport, in this new era. And it's very much a surprise. And I don't know if it's going to be a move Penn State regrets or not, but it is a risky move. Like Bud went over it last night. We went over it a little bit. Like, you fire one of these coaches, it's not always a guarantee. In fact, it's rarely. It rarely happens that you get the results you want when the results aren't good enough. But you're competing at the level Penn State's been competing at. And I think that right now you look at the situation. James Franklin took over that job, and in truth, like, he dragged that program out of the stone age. Yeah, Penn State was still very much operating in like a night, like an idyllic 1985 kind of way, where it's like, we're going to do it the right way, blah, blah. And Franklin modernized the operation and he won a whole hell of a lot of games, but he never really broke through to where they wanted to get to where they were competing for net, you know, competing for national titles and beating the best of the best. And now they want to find somebody who can beat the best of the best. And I don't know that that coach is available. I don't know. Like, I still think there's a lot of changes that Penn State needs to make, but I do think that they have a program that's capable of doing so because of the clear commitment now financially, if they're willing to spend this money to move on and the recruiting base that they have and the history that they have and the brand name that they have, it's there. But this is going to be a pivotal hire.

[Chip Patterson]

Since 2019. I mean, just even take it back to 2016. You have top 10 finishes in 16, 17, 20, 19, 22 and 24. 104 wins and just 45 losses.

[Tom Fernelli]

James Franklin will only be on the market as long as he decides he wants to be on the market. That's the reality of the situation. Like, yeah, he's going to be. If there's going to be plenty of schools that want to hire James Franklin this off season, whether he wants to take it or not, I don't know. They'll depend on probably the offset language in the buyout. I mean, because James. Let's be. James could go do TV for a year, really good at it, and then go get a job.

[Chip Patterson]

Listen, no, now it's not. Now. This is a serious. This is a more serious conversation. I'm not going to keep the bit going now. I mean, you can come be an analyst, you know, just hang out. I'm. I'm just trying to introduce the idea of just living in the area, that's all.

[Tom Fernelli]

So James on the pod. He can come in on reaction shows on Saturday night.

[Chip Patterson]

I would love to have James Franklin.

[Tom Fernelli]

I would love James on this show.

[Chip Patterson]

James, I know you're a big fan of the COVID 3 podcast. We'd love to have you come join the COVID 3 podcast. Any one of us are replaceable. For you, sir. For Penn State, do you think, and this is a very odd question, do you think if they beat Oregon, all of this changes?

[Tom Fernelli]

Yeah, I know. Yes, yes. God, yes.

[Chip Patterson]

Like, college football is so funny that to your point. And like Ken, yeah, Oregon was up 17 to 3, but Penn State came back and they were playing at home and they went into overtime. And if Penn State wins that thing in overtime, I mean, that's a.

[Tom Fernelli]

That.

[Chip Patterson]

That is the narrowest of margins between charging ahead, looking like a Big Ten and national title favorite and firing your like, extremely successful 100 win coach just a couple weeks later. I mean, wild.

[Tom Fernelli]

I think the funniest.

[Chip Patterson]

You're right. Like you said, like you said right at the top. I'm still a little bit of like, oh, yeah, okay.

[Tom Fernelli]

I mean, I know the winds were going this way, but if you're gonna. You can't pretend. Like I see a lot of people saying that this isn't a shock like three weeks ago. What were the odds of this happening?

[Chip Patterson]

I mean, Fair Bailey in the tailgate does say it's very simple. Just don't lose to UCLA and Northwestern. You know, we, we talk about the sliding doors of the first one and I understand the impact, but yeah, just don't, just don't lose those games. Penn State. I did, I did not watch all of it down to down. Heading into the instant reaction show last night. Penn State played well enough to win that game.

[Tom Fernelli]

Yeah, they just definitely. Connolly tweeted out like, you know, he does every week. The post game win expectancies.

[Chip Patterson]

Is it up there?

[Tom Fernelli]

I think Northwestern had like a 27 post game win expectancy.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah.

[Tom Fernelli]

In that area.

[Chip Patterson]

Crazy. Crazy. And I think maybe, maybe if they win against Northwestern, that we're not having this instant reaction pod if Drew Aller.

[Tom Fernelli]

Doesn'T throw an interception in the red zone on the very first possession of the game. Are we having this discussion right now?

[Chip Patterson]

Well, this is the reality we're living in. Okay, That's.

[Tom Fernelli]

Those are the margins we're dealing with here.

[Chip Patterson]

Okay. We will start to get a little bit into the what's next for Penn State here in just a little bit. What about what's. What is there left? Do you think that this leads to a dramatic Adjustment in terms of the. I know for the Penn State fan experience, it totally changes the way that we're going through the rest of the season. What about for us? You know, we're going to have to keep talking about this team. It's still Penn State. They're going to be going out there, and they're going to be, you know, playing and competing out the rest of their schedule. How does that change your expectations for.

[Tom Fernelli]

The Nittany Lions pretty dramatically? Like, I don't know. Have they named an interim yet?

[Chip Patterson]

I don't see it in the release. I've got it pulled up right now.

[Tom Fernelli]

Be kind of weird if it was Jim Knowles, wouldn't it? But, like, you've lost your starting quarterback for the year and you fired your coach. I don't think that those two things within the span of 12 hours of one another is going to fix anything. I think it's going to make it worse. And we talked last night. Their next three games are at Iowa, at Ohio State, and then Indiana. They're probably going to get their ass kicked in their next three games. So now you're sitting there at three and six, needing to win out against Michigan State, Nebraska and Rutgers to get to a bowl. But, like, are you even going to be trying at that point? Like, I feel like the situations that we see now in this Portal era, like you always thought when a coach got fired, a lot of the coaches on that staff kind of start figuring out where they're going to be next year, start, you know, putting irons in the fire, trying to find a landing spot as they're getting off the boat. Players are doing the same thing now, Chip, because there's a lot of people on this team who are going to be graduating and have no eligibility left. And a lot of the guys that are back up on the depth charts are going to be asking themselves, do I want to risk this new staff coming in and bringing in their own people and recruiting over me like. Or am I better off looking for another landing spot elsewhere? And that's really what the final two months of this season is probably going to be for Penn State football. Getting your ass kicked and wondering about 2026.

[Chip Patterson]

I will say, if you are a Penn State fan and you're looking for something to. To. To grab a hold of former wide receiver and current cornerbacks and associate head coach Terry Smith is going to be the interim head coach. That's somebody who obviously has, you know, led up a very, like, strong room there in the defensive backfield. He's been a big part of their recruiting efforts. He's a former Penn State player, so if, if you want to hope that your boys are going to be out there making your alma mater proud, I think this is probably a good pick. If it was Jim Knowles, that would have been awkward. So, yeah, Terry Smith takes over as your interim coach, leading the Nittany Lions the rest of the year. Well, coming up on the other side, we'll, we'll turn the page. What's next for Penn State? A laundry list of potential candidates based on connections, what might be the best fit, and more next.

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[Tom Fernelli]

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[Chip Patterson]

Let's get ready to go back here on the COVID 3 podcast. Continuing to react to the news that James Franklin is out as Penn State head coach effective immediately. Terry Smith taking over as interim coach. The university making the announcement right here on Sunday afternoon after Penn State lost its third Straight game, falling to Oregon, falling to ucla and then on Saturday falling to Northwestern. Oh, and three in conference play. So Terry Smith leads the Nittany Lions the rest of the way, but who leads the Nittany Lions out of the tunnel in 2026?

[Tom Fernelli]

Going to get this out of the way because this is going to be. This is going to be a tough truth to swallow for Penn State fans. And I know that on, on the surface, based on everything you know of from college football, it's. It won't make sense. Kurt Signetti is not leaving Indiana for Penn State in 2025. We don't know for a fact that Penn State is a better job than Indiana. Kurt Signetti in the last few weeks has more top 10 wins at Indiana than James Franklin has at Penn State. Indiana has had a ton of financial support boosted into that program in recent years. Indiana is having the success that Penn State has been trying to have for years and was not able to have. There is no reason for Kurt Signetti to start over and move to Penn State when he's literally got it humming right the hell now at Indiana. He might win the Big Ten at Indiana. He's going to get to the College Football Playoff. I know that a whole lot of Penn State fans are going to want him. And in a vacuum you think, well, clearly Penn State's better than Indiana. I don't know that it is not in this modern era. Things have changed really quickly. Indiana right now is looking like a very similar job to Penn State. So I would get over that. I do not think you're going to get Signetti from Indiana. I think Indiana will pay him whatever the hell they have to to keep him. And I do think he's going to get a raise. So if I am pen float out there that I'm going after him to force Indiana to pay up more, I think the more realistic options that you're going to hear are Matt Rule and Matt Campbell. It's going to be one of the mats. That is my prediction. I think that Matt Rule, obviously he has the ties to Penn State. Nebraska's off to a 5 and 1 start. This was not great news for if you're in Nebraska, you don't really want to be hearing this right now while things are going well. But Rules probably going to be distracted over these next couple of weeks. And then Matt Campbell at Iowa State. This is a big job. This is a Midwest job. Like we've had his name floated for SEC gigs and like west coast gigs in recent years. But Matt Campbell is an Ohio guy who coaches in Iowa who kind of wants to be in this area of the country. This is one of those jobs that I feel like Matt Campbell would give serious consideration to leaving Iowa State for. And I think Matt Campbell would be a great coach at Penn State. I also think that he would need to help with the recruiting operation because he has not played in those waters at Iowa State. Not to say he hasn't recruited well because he's developed plenty of NFL players, but he hasn't brought in like the four and five star talent that Penn State's going to be going after. But I think he could do it and I think he's going to build a great culture and I think he's a very good coach. So if Penn State ends up with him, I would be thrilled. If I'm a Penn State fan, I'd probably be more thrilled with that than Matt Rule.

[Chip Patterson]

So is that if you're going to have to have the hard talk with Penn State fans about your relationship to Indiana, then that means the follow up is, are you having a hard talk with Nebraska fans about where you are compared to Penn State?

[Tom Fernelli]

Yeah, but I think Nebraska fans kind of know that.

[Chip Patterson]

Okay.

[Tom Fernelli]

Like if I think there are some older Nebraska fans who probably still think Nebraska is at the same level, but I think most Nebraska fans like 45 and under understand where the court. Understand the pecking order.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah. The end. And if you're Iowa State, that just might be a. That would be a tough, tough thing to see go. But man, Matt Campbell's done a lot of good at Iowa State. His. His track record is it. It maybe has been transformative. We'll see with whoever would take over again if that even happens. Matt Campbell had power conference interest last season and kind of let it be known that he'd prefer to stay and. But those options weren't Penn State.

[Tom Fernelli]

No. So things like Rinky Dink, North Carolina, you know, he wants a real program.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah. The. There's where Penn State fits among the, you know, top five and top ten sort of jobs available or jobs overall. Whenever you try to rank a college football job, I'll tell you one thing, it is the best job that is available right now. And in terms of trying to think about that, like you mentioned Kurt Signetti and you mentioned you go after him. You want to know why you go after Kurt Signetti? Not because, you know he's got some. Some area ties in Pennsylvania. No, no, you go after him because he's one of the best coaches around right now. And if you're Penn State and you are the best job available, you go and you make these people say no. So, yeah, of course, you give Kurt Signetti a call. So I. I tend to lean with you somewhere with the. The Matt Rule emotion, the vibes. I could. I could see it going. Because this is a group. This. This is a group that needs some positive vibes or poor Penn State fans. They were. They were riding so high. They had the Eagles. They were in the final four of the playoff. Tough, tough. Crash out. Tough. Who else would be. Who else? If you're a head coach, are you hoping the search gets to you? Realistically.

[Tom Fernelli]

I mean, like, to use it for a raise or because you're interested in the gig?

[Chip Patterson]

Oh, because you would love to be interviewed. Because if the search came to you, you'd be like, yeah, because of. All coaches have egos. All coaches would think. I mean, you give me Penn State, I can go win.

[Tom Fernelli]

I mean, I think of, like, current sitting head coaches that would be worth going after, like, with, like, genuine interest. Eli Drinkwitz at Missouri. I don't know how interested he would be in the job, but I think, Eli, you look at what he's been doing at Missouri, you look at the fact that he's been able to recruit very well at Missouri. Like, Missouri is a very good program and it has financial backing, but it's also in the SEC where it's gotta compete with Alabama, Georgia, Texas, now Oklahoma, all these schools that it's probably gonna have a hard, more difficult time. If you go to Penn State, you don't have as many obstacles in your way and maybe you can overcome that.

[Chip Patterson]

Manny Diaz.

[Tom Fernelli]

No, I don't think Manny Diaz is meant for these gigs. I think Manny Diaz at Duke is like, a perfect spot for Manny Diaz. That's because Manny Diaz has some faults on game day that fly under the radar when he's coaching at Duke. If Manny Diaz was coaching at Penn State against Ohio State, those faults would be seen pretty quickly, and they would be very vocal about it, and it would not be happy. What if. Does Brian Kelly restart the clock?

[Chip Patterson]

I mean, there are worse places to land on a lateral move, restart the clock than Penn State. Especially to your point about. And I. I'm not. Not trying to go all in on him, but, like, especially for somebody who just brought the recruiting operation. You mentioned about how he brought the whole operation into the modern era. I don't. I wasn't inside that building before. I didn't. You know, I wasn't very familiar with what was Going on. Thankfully, I can plead. I, I knew nothing about what was going on with the previous regimes. But James Franklin's recruiting operation brought. I mean, you've, you, you've got a Penn State building and community and university that knows what it takes to at least field a championship roster. So Brian Kelly should step in and be able to have everything running. There's worse places.

[Tom Fernelli]

Let me, let me ask you this hypothetical because the one job's open and the one ain't yet, but it might be your Lane Kiffin. You have the choice of Florida or Penn State. Which one do you take?

[Chip Patterson]

Am I, am I Lane Kiffin?

[Tom Fernelli]

Yeah, you're Lane Kiffin, Florida. I think you're right. I think Lane Kiffin prefers that lifestyle down there. But I do feel like going to Florida, he'd be in a similar situation to the one he is in now.

[Chip Patterson]

That may be true, but there's something to be said for all those like, meetings, you know, the spring meetings and the like ballrooms. We make fun of the, what happens when they get all these athletic directors and coaches. But I kind of feel like he runs that room. I mean, if he just switches a polo out, he's still laying. If he goes to the Big Ten, that's a whole new culture. He's got to have, get used to him and that he's got to get used to. An intra SEC move means Lane can keep being Lane all the time. So that's why I would say Florida, if Florida was open. If Lane doesn't decide to stay at Ole Miss.

[Tom Fernelli]

Rebels fans, there's been some chatter in the chat. I don't know because the way the season's going for them the last few weeks. But you're Syracuse. Is Fran Brown, like, how far down the list would Fran Brown be for Penn State? Because we know he's going to be able to recruit the crap out of that, out of that program and you know that, like just personality wise, I think he could handle that job. Although I don't know. I don't know. Fran might be a little rough around the edges for Penn State.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah, Syracuse.

[Tom Fernelli]

It doesn't, doesn't. It could be a similar situation to Manny. Fran's a little honest and I don't know how that would play all the time.

[Chip Patterson]

F bombs at regular Wednesday media availability.

[Tom Fernelli]

Yeah. You know, in a conversation with me off air, I think we'd get along. It'd be perf because I swear a lot more when I'm not on this show. But I just feel like, what do you. I Think Fran doesn't have the same filter I do.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah, Fran with sitting up there with the university, like president and the provost and a bunch of board people. He's like, you seen this offensive line? Effing nice. Oh, Urban Meyer.

[Tom Fernelli]

No. Come on, guys.

[Chip Patterson]

Dan Mullen.

[Tom Fernelli]

Dan Mullen. I. He's not the top of the list, but he'll be on the list. I think he's somebody you interview. And if a couple guys say no, I don't know if it would. I don't feel like if I'm a Penn State fan and we hired Dan Mullen, as much as I love Dan Mullen, I don't know if I'm. I'm super thrilled about it.

[Chip Patterson]

I mentioned I did not have this person in mind when I mentioned the prompt, but now it seems to be one of the answers. I said, who? If you're sitting out there, you would really hope if the search ends up getting to you. Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden.

[Tom Fernelli]

I mean, Al street consulted. Al should be interviewed.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah. Yes. Hey, Al. How's it. Hello. He said. He said he's on his way to the airport. He's already wearing the tie.

[Tom Fernelli]

No, we didn't offer you. No, no. This is gonna be awkward.

[Chip Patterson]

How about this? I'll just sit outside and. And you just tell me. Okay. Because, I mean, I was especially thinking about the current state of the Cincinnati Bengals and just how miserable that must be. Hi. You're the defensive coordinator for the team who's lost its star quarterback and, like, its offense is falling apart. Surprise. It's a. It's a tough, tough season for Al.

[Tom Fernelli]

Let's do a bit of a.360 here.180. Talking about who Penn State gets to hire James Franklin. We had the hypothetical about Florida, Penn State a minute ago. If you're laying Kiffin, does James Franklin being fired today and having his contract bought out, which means you don't have to pay a buyout to hire him away from Penn State anymore. Does this change the calculus at Florida? Does it change the calculus at Auburn? Does it change the calculus at a lot of other jobs who feel like they can make a run at James Franklin? Yes, I agree. Like, if I'm Hugh Freeze or Billy Napier, I had a chill on my spine about now.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah. Games. Games on.

[Tom Fernelli]

This is.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah, James Franklin's out there, but lsu.

[Tom Fernelli]

I just feel like there's a lot of. A lot of jobs that were still kind of up in the air, and now having this guy on the market is going to impact a lot of decisions. Now, obviously, there will be feelers behind the scenes, but now that James Franklin is no longer the coach at Penn State, you can much more easily put those feelers out there and find out how interested he is in that gig.

[Chip Patterson]

It was historically bad, but I don't think that whoever takes over is going to have to dig it out of some trench. And what I mean by historically bad was the multiple losses as a heavy favorite. You know, first AP top 10 since 1985 to lose to a team. Oh, and four or worse, the fact that Franklin had 15 consecutive losses against AP top six teams. You know, it's. It had gotten toxic, but the program is still an amazing opportunity for some coach to be able to jump on.

[Tom Fernelli]

Yeah, I. This is such a tremendously interesting move because of the impact that it's going to have everywhere.

[Chip Patterson]

What is any other. Any other thoughts on names or just sort of like where, where your mind goes in terms of what's next? Because in some ways, there's a little bit of finality here instead of, instead of us spending the next three weeks being like, oh, God, like, so when are they just going to go their separate ways, like, rip the band aid off? I mean, that's some. Somebody cares a lot about Penn State football and has decided to be a main character in this football program's history. Whether it's the right move or not, we'll see.

[Tom Fernelli]

Or that private equity deal went through.

[Chip Patterson]

And we just don't know it yet.

[Tom Fernelli]

Penn State's already burned in the cash.

[Chip Patterson]

I was listening to Tim Pernetti is the commissioner of the American, and because of some of his private sector work, I feel like he speaks the, you know, the equity language, like he can break it down. And he said, look, you know, if a conference does a deal doesn't mean that every school is going to take the cash. It just means that, you know, you've got that stuff available. And he used an example, talking about the American, he was like, maybe ECU says we don't want any, but UAB is like, yes, absolutely. You know, we are gonna, we're gonna take this on. And now I'm thinking about that story as I'm thinking about deal went through on Friday. Penn State's like, maxed out their withdrawals.

[Tom Fernelli]

Only because you said it. If, if the American got some private equity. And UAB said, yes, we want that money. How much of that is actually Alabama taking the money through UAB and then filtering it into the Crimson Tide football program? Like, 95% of that cash is that.

[Cash Siya Najad]

How that's going to happen.

[Chip Patterson]

Not gonna weigh in on that one. Those politics are too deep. Hey, so. So James Franklin now any of the other hot seat jobs, he would be a good hire or a decent or a like.

[Tom Fernelli]

Yes.

[Chip Patterson]

Okay.

[Tom Fernelli]

I mean, how many coaches are going to be literally like in reality on the market that are better coaches than James Franklin?

[Chip Patterson]

Like really re, like honestly going to be on the market market.

[Tom Fernelli]

Like Ryan Day is not on the market. Kirby Smart's not on the market. Like Urban Meyer is not on the market no matter how badly you want him to be. How many are better than James Franklin?

[Chip Patterson]

Zero.

[Tom Fernelli]

Yeah, of course he's going to. If he wants a job, he's going to have whatever the hell job he wants, period, point blank. And I hope it's in the Big Ten.

[Chip Patterson]

Man had an Ohio State problem, but that Ohio State problem has gotten him tens of millions of dollars. Perhaps a little bit of a fresh start. So. Yeah, I agree with you. He is. He's going to be. He is going to be the most sought after candidate for power conference jobs. He could work literally anywhere from coast to coast.

[Tom Fernelli]

And when I say I hope it's in the Big Ten, it's only because I want to be able to interview him@Big Ten media days again for the show next year.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah, and again. Or he comes to the COVID 3 podcast, then we get to talk all the time. Yeah, absolutely. All right, one last one here. Clark Lee would be on my list. I would not expect him to leave Vanderbilt. Right.

[Tom Fernelli]

I don't think Clark's leaving Vanderbilt, but this is a kind of job I feel like would be appealing.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah.

[Tom Fernelli]

If Clark's goal is to just be at the alma mater and be the greatest coach in Vanderbilt history, then I think he could do that. If his job, if his goal is to compete for national titles, then he's going to leave at some point. But do you. Does. I know it's been a while, but how do you feel about going back to the Vandy? Well, if you're Penn State fair. I mean, it worked for you last time.

[Chip Patterson]

For those who might have just joined the stream late just to where we started the candidates discussion, I'll go ahead and throw my support behind your initial again. This literally just happened even at the top of this hour. So we are still sort of processing this all. But I like your call for the starting point. The mats. Then that would be Matt Rule at Nebraska. That would be Matt Campbell at Iowa State. Two very good coaches. Two coaches that obviously for the Matt Rule angle of this, you've got the, the emotional connection to Penn State. And, and, and Matt Campbell, he's. He's done it. You know, that's, that, that's given him the opportunity, given him a little bit of a bigger car, seeing if he could go win some big races. So.

[Tom Fernelli]

Yeah. And if power ranking, who I think would be the better hire, I would have Matt Campbell above Matt Rule.

[Chip Patterson]

If you were power ranking, how your response would be?

[Tom Fernelli]

If I was putting together my list of candidates.

[Chip Patterson]

Right.

[Tom Fernelli]

Because again, I don't think you're getting Signetti. My next option would be Matt Campbell.

[Chip Patterson]

Would there be any coordinators you would go for?

[Tom Fernelli]

For sure.

[Chip Patterson]

Okay.

[Tom Fernelli]

I just don't know. I, I'm going. I'm interviewing coordinators because I'm trying to get information. Yeah, sure. I don't know if I'm spending 50 million to get rid of James Franklin to hire an unproven coach. I don't feel like I'd forgotten about.

[Chip Patterson]

The, what you spent to make this higher. To be like, well, you don't get rid of James Franklin for a let's see if it works type hiring. Yeah.

[Tom Fernelli]

I mean, but to, to be fair, like, Oregon went after an unproven head coach coordinator in Lanning, and it's working well for them. So it's not to say it can't work. It's just Mario left. They didn't pay a whole bunch of money for him to leave. I just don't feel like you make this move and then you go for an inexperienced guy. Unless you absolutely know and that you never know.

[Chip Patterson]

Glenn Schumann, come on down.

[Tom Fernelli]

Listen, if. I think Glenn Schumann would have a great argument for the gig, I think that. I mean, I don't know if, like, culturally he's a fitter, if he wants to be coaching in the Big Ten, but if Penn State's goal is to compete for national championships, Glenn Schuman's been at a program that knows what you have to do.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah.

[Tom Fernelli]

Yep.

[Chip Patterson]

All right. We will, of course, be keeping this conversation rolling. Oh, any last words? Oregon State.

[Tom Fernelli]

Trent Ray, come home. Jonathan Smith. Maybe. Maybe this is what's best for everybody involved here, too. Yep.

[Chip Patterson]

I mean, I, It. It was. It was getting bad for the Beeves. We'll see. We'll see what happens after the. The shakeup. See if they're able to bounce back and make the most out of the rest of the season. We will be back on Monday, 11am Eastern Time. Continuing the conversation here about James Franklin out at Penn State. What's next for the NITTANY Lions, Franklin and more. But it will also be our final stamp on a wild Week seven the that included, among other things, that Penn State lost to Northwestern. So make sure you come and hang out again 11am eastern time. YouTube.com cover3 and you can follow him on Twitter at Tom Fenelli. You can follow me at Chip Underscore Patterson Tom thank you very much.

[Tom Fernelli]

James Franklin got fired before Billy Napier, Hugh Freeze and Luke Fickle.

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